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THE MICHAEL SCHUMACHER EFFECT: HOW ANDREA STELLA BUILT MCLAREN'S NEW DYNASTY

Andrea Stella is the first McLaren boss this century to guide them to a championship one-two finish. Rubens Barrichello explains Stella's Schumacher-inspired success.

The Michael Schumacher Effect: How Andrea Stella Built McLaren's New Dynasty
Why Stella's Success Dwarfs Ron Dennis's 2008 Feat

Andrea Stella is the only team leader this century to guide McLaren to a championship one-two finish.

After McLaren's major improvement over the last three years, fans hope Andrea Stella sticks around longer than Ron Dennis did after Lewis Hamilton's 2008 title.

When Oscar Piastri first joined McLaren, he and Lando Norris struggled to get out of Q1.

But by 2025, they were battling for the drivers’ title, with Norris winning at the last race.

Stella wasn't eager to become McLaren's team boss. It took a lot of convincing from CEO Zak Brown for him to take over from Andreas Seidl.

Former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello says he knew Stella would do great at McLaren based on his time with Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher had huge success with Ferrari, and Stella was key to his five straight championships.

Barrichello talked about his time at Ferrari on the Flow Podcast.

He said this about his work with Schumacher: They kept getting better, and Andrea Stella, who’s now the head guy, was a telemetry engineer [at Ferrari].

You have a mechanical engineer and a computer engineer, right? They download all the data and look at graphs and everything.

He was Schumacher’s engineer, right? And I watched him closely.

My guy was good, but this guy was on another level.

I pay attention and like to learn.

Often, Schumacher would finish a meeting, go somewhere else, and not call me. I’d grab my chair and sit there, waiting for someone to tell me to leave.

There was no rule saying I had to leave. So, I was like, I’m here; I’m part of this team too; I want to learn.

So this Stella guy, I hung around, and we became friends.

Barrichello added that he sees how Stella's experience with Schumacher affects his leadership at McLaren.

Stella's important role in Schumacher's Ferrari success shows what a great asset he is to McLaren now.

Schumacher built Ferrari's last title-winning dynasty in the early 2000s. Only McLaren's poor management in 2007 allowed Ferrari to win the title that year with Kimi Raikkonen.

One thing Schumacher's Ferrari and Stella's McLaren have in common is that they built the team around a few trusted people.

Schumacher wanted Ferrari to stick with Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, and Rory Byrne despite a slow start. It paid off fast.

Stella has done much the same thing at McLaren, bringing in Rob Marshall and trusting Peter Prodromou more.

Stella wants to copy Schumacher’s testing plan for next year’s regulation changes. He's sure his team will put McLaren in the best place to face 2026 and after.

THE 2026 ULTIMATUM: WHY NEXT SEASON IS "MAKE OR BREAK" FOR LEWIS HAMILTON

After a winless 2025 debut, Lewis Hamilton faces a pivotal year. See why Steiner believes the 7x champ is nearing the F1 exit.

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Hamilton’s exit clock is ticking

Guenther Steiner, who used to run the Haas team, thinks Lewis Hamilton might quit Formula 1 if Ferrari can't get to the top of the Driver's Championship by 2026—he thinks that season will be super important for the racing star.

Hamilton had a tough first year with Ferrari, ending up sixth in the F1 rankings with 156 points.

That was 86 points behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc, and he didn't even get on the podium once, which is a first for him in a full season.

He often said he was bummed out about how his Ferrari debut was going.

Back in November, after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, he told Sky Sports, I feel awful. This has been the worst season ever, and it just keeps getting worse no matter how hard I try. I'm trying everything I can, both in and out of the car.

Hamilton looked pretty sad a lot during the season because he couldn't really fight for race wins.

Steiner told Sports Krone, I think if Ferrari has a good car next season, Hamilton might be able to turn things around. If they are more competitive, Lewis might find his drive again. But if things stay the same, next season will probably be his last in Formula 1. He's not going to go through that again. The situation is tough for him, and you could see that in every interview. So, the next season will be key for him.

What's Hamilton saying about quitting?

When the media asks Hamilton about his F1 future, he doesn't want to talk about retiring.

At the end of the season, when someone asked him what he would say to those who think he might retire soon, the 40-year-old said, I wouldn't say anything to them. None of them have done what I've done, so they don't know anything more than I do.

Last summer, after some rumors that he might leave early, Hamilton said he's staying at Ferrari until his contract is up.

He said, For those writing stories about me thinking about not racing, I've just started here with Ferrari. I've been here for a few years, and I'm in it for the long run, so there's no question about what I'm focused on achieving with this team. There are zero doubts, so please stop making stuff up.

In 2026, everyone will still be wondering about Hamilton's future in F1, mainly if Ferrari keeps struggling with the new rules. And if Steiner is right, another year of not competing for a championship could be the end for him.

MAX VERSTAPPEN NAMED PEER-VOTED DRIVER OF THE YEAR FOR FIFTH CONSECUTIVE SEASON

Max Verstappen wins his 5th straight F1 peer award, beating champion Lando Norris. Lewis Hamilton drops out of the top 10 for the first time.

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Verstappen Wins Fifth Straight Peer Award

Max Verstappen copped his fifth straight driver-of-the-year award in Formula 1's secret peer vote, even though he almost grabbed a fifth title in 2025 but didn't quite make it.

The drivers all voted in secret, except for four guys. The Red Bull driver beat out Lando Norris, who just won the world championship, for the number one spot.

The voting worked like the normal F1 points system. Drivers ranked their top 10 rivals. Verstappen got 25 points from six votes to win.

Norris, who won his first championship after a crazy season, came in second in the driver rankings for the second year running.

The McLaren driver won the title after fighting off pressure from Verstappen and his teammate, Oscar Piastri, all season long.

George Russell took third, moving up one spot from last year. The Mercedes driver had a killer season with two wins and seven more podiums.

Piastri was fourth, up one spot, even though his championship hopes fizzled out near the end. The Aussie was leading by 34 points at one point before his performance dropped off.

Charles Leclerc finished fifth, down two spots, even though he got everything he could out of Ferrari's SF-25. The Monegasque driver had seven podiums during a tough season that saw Ferrari finish fourth.

Carlos Sainz held onto sixth after a great comeback at Williams. After a rough start, the Spaniard grabbed two podiums in a strong second half of the season.

Fernando Alonso jumped two spots to seventh, and the two-time world champion had some crazy drives in Aston Martin's AMR25.

Alex Albon took eighth after his best season with Williams, while rookies Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar rounded out the top 10, getting props for their awesome first seasons.

Pierre Gasly almost made the list, even with 10 Q3 appearances in Alpine's tricky A525.

Lewis Hamilton, who's won seven world championships, didn't show up in the rankings, which is a first since they started doing this poll. It shows how rough his first season at Ferrari was.

The four drivers who skipped the vote were Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll, and Yuki Tsunoda.

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